Last year I made a joke in one post about au pairs spending a lot of money on Garnier Nutrisse hair color, and nobody commented… I thought I was alone in the “What’s with all the hair coloring?” question. I have since discovered, for better or worse, that I am not the only host mom who didn’t recognize her au pair after a session in the home salon.

Other host parents have mentioned these hair color issues:

• hair color lotions not thrown away properly
• ap’s with really weird hair colors- sometimes intentionally colors-not-found-in-nature; other times … eek.
• stains on towels
• stains on walls
• stains on bathroom sinks & tubs

So host parents– Be ready with a little information.

You might want to let your au pair know that “Hair Color Solutions in the USA” might be different from those at home.

The instructions are only in English and Spanish, unless you are near Canada and then you get a little French too. Be ready to translate if necessary. Not like she’ll ask you, but you can always offer.

Let her know that the color of the lotion can cause problems. One problem with the hair color is that the color of the lotion changes, so what looks like harmless white lotion can itself turn dark red. You can splash color lotion on the wall and not even notice until it’s a little late. Plus, even if the lotion is wiped off the surface of, say, your wallpaper, residual dye or bleach can remain and cause damage.

Also, the lotion is highly toxic. Your au pair probably knows not to get it into her eyes, but it may not occur to her to put the color-related trash in a safe disposal site, (maybe inside a plastic bag, and then into the outside garbage can).

Just so you know host parents, the whole ‘experiment with my hair color’ idea seems to be pretty popular on ones year away from home. So, consider being ready with some old towels.

Oh, and one other thing– don’t wince when she comes downstairs with the new hair. Chances are, she’ll change it again, before you even get used to it!

Any crazy haircolor stories, or additional tips? Please share…!

Photo: My new hair colour yay by reutC